Where Tomorrow Leads (3 page)

“Come on son, let’s start to walk. We should get there before they do anyway. I know my wife, she’ll get lost driving two blocks down the road. We need to stand outside the hotel and wave her down.”

Jake felt as if a whole new world was about to begin. It turned out Maggie’s Pap was right about his wife. They did get to the hotel before the pink car. After about twenty minutes of waiting, Jake reached in his pocket and text Maggie to make sure they were okay.

“Maggie said they see the airport now. They got sidetracked.”

The old man whistled and nodded. “As I thought! I told you son that woman can get lost in her own house. I swear she’s getting that dementia in her old age.”

Jake didn’t know what to say. Anxious to call his company, he wanted to see how everything was holding up without him there in direct command. He made a promise to Maggie he would try to relax and have a good time. He wanted to keep the promise. The phone buzzed.

When he looked down, a text from Maggie made him smile. “You promised!” he read before he stuffed the phone deep in the pocket. He swore she could read his mind.

The pink colored car came around the corner the moment Jake looked up. Nanny turned to pull into the hotel parking lot but didn’t use her turn signal and the car behind honked its horn at her, a loud cuss word flying from the window. Nanny’s hand slipped out the window and she held up her wrinkled middle finger. “I salute you!” she hollered.

Pap began to laugh. “That’s my woman. She doesn’t take crap off anyone,” he boasted. Jake joined in. He wondered if Maggie would turn out like her Nan, eccentric and crazy wild.

The two ladies got out of the car and found the men waiting. Jake picked Maggie up and swung her around. He placed a quick kiss on her lips. Maggie’s arms tightened around his neck. “Did you miss me that much?” she teased.

“Sure did baby, I’m having a fun time, I’m glad I came along.” He kissed her again before they followed the older couple in to the hotel restaurant. After being seated, Nan began to bombard him with questions about his family, including his Mother.

“I didn’t know my Mom well,” Jake told her. “She died when I was eleven. What I do remember is how beautiful she was, and how much she loved my brother and I. She had these distinct eyes that showed kindness and I will always remember how they filled up with so much love for me.”

“Oh, that’s beautiful.” Nan picked up a napkin and dabbed at her eyes. “I am sure she is always looking out for you.” After Nan sniffed a few more times, she changed the subject. “Young man, what intentions do you have for my grand daughter?”

Jake set his fork down. “I love Maggie,” he said, point blank.

“Yes, it’s obvious you do young man. My baby here is a romance writer who loves to be romanced, wined and dined and have a happily ever after.”

“I understand,” Jake said.

“Well then why don’t I hear wedding bells yet?”

“Nan, this is not proper!” Maggie reprimanded her, although to Jake’s ears, her voice sounded a bit weak as if she wanted an answer to the question too.

Pap stuffed more food in his mouth.

Jake cleared his throat. “I, we, uh. Look, we’ve been so busy with all these new projects and such it hasn’t come up yet.” There, he said it, who would argue with busy.

Nan would. “Mr. Hatfield! Did I hear you say your work is more important than my grand daughter?”

“Nan, enough.” Maggie argued. “Stop trying to strong arm Jake into popping the question.” She turned to Jake, a red blush across her face. “I’m sorry. Nan can get out of hand.”

“I don’t get out of hand,” Nan said, taking a swig of her iced tea.

“Yes, you do.” Pap spoke up.

The older woman pointed a finger at her husband. “You hush, Mr. McCoy. This is too important stuff to let go.” Nan seemed to be on a mission to bet him to propose. He wanted to, but not like this. Plus there was always something going on at his business.

“Is that you Pinkie McCoy?” a voice came out of the blue, saving Jake. Nan jumped up and hugged the other lady and they began to talk like old friends. Jake took in a deep breath, relieved the conversation went in another direction. He had plans to ask Maggie to be his wife someday. He even asked Maggie’s mom her ring size but didn’t buy the ring yet.

Why was it so hard to propose? Why was he so afraid if he asked her to marry him then things would go awry and he would lose her? Some things were so hard to forget and his mother’s fate haunted him. He watched his Dad raise them alone because he grieved for their mom over the years. He didn’t want to wind up like his own Father. Even though there was a slim chance of something like that ever happening, his heart couldn’t bear the thought.

He knew he had to work this out. Maggie wouldn’t wait for him forever.

“Jake, everything all right? I’m sorry about Nan, she can be a busybody at times.”

“She sure can,” Pap agreed. “Looks like our old friends are here, so we’ll say good night. You have a two hour drive and it looks like we’ll be up partying all night.” Pap smiled and shook Jake’s hand. “Good getting to know you son. Take care of our baby.”

Jake stood. “Thank you, sir. I plan to take care of Maggie.” He stood at a distance as Maggie hugged her grandparents. Nan blew him a kiss and gave him a giant smile, then turned and went off with her old friends. Maggie slid beside him and wrapped her arm around his waist.

“I hope my Nan didn’t shock you too much. She’s a darling, but she does get quite erratic at times.”

“She’s looking out for you baby. I would do the same.”

Maggie ran her hand over his cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the pink car. I didn’t want to refuse the gift. This car means so much to her. I am honored she gave it to me.”

Jake grinned. “Maggie, by now you should know I don’t care what others think. If we have to drive the whole way to the Keys in a pink Impala, it’s what we do. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Maggie wrapped her arms around him. “Jake, you are the man of my dreams. I love you.”

Jake grinned. “Is there any chance we can change the color to maybe a cool blue?”

Maggie stepped back. Her eyes widened as she shook her head. “I hope you are kidding because I would never, ever do that to my Nan.”

Jake laughed out loud and placed a kiss on her mouth. “That’s what your Pap said you would say.”

Chapter 3

“It’s gonna be about a two hour drive to Wilkes-Barre,” Maggie said.
Well, they weren’t going to Wilkes-Barre, yet. Since her Mom was in the Keys with Jake’s Dad, no one would be expecting them, so in the meantime, Maggie had other plans.

There was a place along the way where she wanted to spend a few days alone with Jake. Perhaps with the ambience of love and romance all around, he would do the deed and propose to her. It was a long shot but worth the side trip. Besides, she knew he had a hard time with forever. He already told her he loved her, he could give her his heart. But something was holding him back from making a commitment. She wanted it all, she wanted the wedding and happy ever after and knew he did too. She would have to help him along, that’s all.

Does she warn him ahead of time or surprise him? She gazed over to him as a single hand steered the pink car. He looked pretty hot in the classic car. White leather seats and interior showed no signs of the pink color of the outside paint. The top was down and his dark hair blew in the mountain breeze.

Yeah, he was her bad boy. Bad to the bone driving a hot pink car and he couldn’t care less. She smiled.

He happened to turn towards her as she grinned. “What?” He reached over the console and brushed the flyaway hair out of her face, then entwined his fingers with hers. “You happy?” he asked.

“More than happy, love. I do have another surprise.”

His one hand gripped the steering wheel as a tiny bit of pressure could be felt on her fingers. “Another one?”

She nodded and smiled. “I won’t tell you until we’re closer. Let’s put it this way, I’ve made reservations for us at this wonderful place you will be sure to love.”

“I’m sure I’ll love the next one,” Jake said, his voice doubtful. “If it’s anything like the pink car surprise, I can’t wait.”

Maggie laughed but her next words came out in a nervous banter. “Oh Jake, have some fun. Imagine this, a retreat set far back in a cove on a beautiful lake with a champagne shaped tub filled with bubbles and an in-suite private pool designed to make us feel as if we are the only couple in the world.” Her nerves began to shatter. Would he refuse to go?

He slowed the car down on the tree lined road where small mountains loomed in the background. The moon sat amongst a thousand tiny stars that lit up the long winding road into the Pocono mountain sky. He steered the car to the side of the road and down shifted, his face serious. The engine idled as his fingers felt around the steering column for the four-way blinkers.

Maggie stared at the glow of lights blinking back and forth, lighting up the dark road. She couldn’t look at him because she worried he was about to tell her everything she planned was for nothing, that he couldn’t go through with this. Why did she feel so foolish? She began to pull at her bottom lip with her teeth, wondering why she couldn’t relax and enjoy their road trip like she planned from the beginning.

“Baby look at me,” Jake ordered. He reached over and cupped her cheeks in both hands. “I can hear in your voice how fearful you are that I won’t like what you’ve done. Don’t worry. I’m here baby, right now. Even though I care about my company, it’s part of my world, but I’m over a thousand miles away. I’ve hired great, competent people and I trust them to run things while I’m gone. I’m yours for ten days and I never go back on my promises.”

Maggie let a tear of relief slide down her cheek. He brushed it away with his finger. “I’m so glad. I worry you don’t want to be here doing this, that you want to be back in the Keys running your empire.” She didn’t tell him how scared she was he would become bored with her.

“My empire, huh.” Jake nuzzled her neck and leaned his forehead on hers. “You are part of my empire, my queen, and I want to be here with you. Are you going to relax and stop worrying about me? I can’t wait to see what else that scheming little mind of yours comes up with.”

“Put this car in motion because I’m going to show you the best time of your life, Mr. Hatfield.”

He looked over at her, his intense, dark eyes staring in to her own. “Promise me one thing baby,” he said, his voice serious.

“What?”

He latched on to the gear shift and stepped on the clutch, skidding the white wall tires as the car pulled away from the side of the road. “You won’t die your hair pink?”

Maggie laughed out loud. She shrugged. She was starting to like the color pink.

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By the time they pulled up to the door of their suite, Jake was unsure of what he was in for next. The big sign upon entering the resort said Land of Love in giant, bold letters, like something from another time period.

He wanted to check the messages on his phone, even though he promised Maggie he would forget about business for the next ten days. Maybe he could sneak off to the bathroom and make a few calls to assure everything ran smooth down home. He shook himself. Jake was a man of his word. He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and turned it off. With a sigh he reached across Maggie’s lap and flipped open the door of the glove compartment. He almost pulled back, but then let the phone drop inside. He slammed the door closed and let out his breath.

“Jake, you don’t have to do that, what if someone needs you?” Maggie whispered.

“You need me more,” he told her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his mouth. He was pretty pleased with himself. So far he was making the right moves, making sure she knew he cared about her. His only problem was he knew she wanted marriage. He didn’t know when he could offer it, or if he ever could.

Jake helped Maggie out of the pink car and in one swoop, he lifted her in his arms, luggage and all and walked her to the door. With a flip of his wrist, he slid the key card through the slot and pushed open the door. He walked her over the threshold while kissing her in one smooth move. The two lingered for a moment right inside the door as their kiss deepened.

“Jake, put me down. You’ll hurt your back,” she whispered, then moaned in his mouth when his tongue danced with hers. Jake dropped the luggage but held on to Maggie, wrapping his arms tighter around her.

“It’s too late to put you down. The sign says Land of Love and that’s what is going to happen, right here, right now.” He shut her up when he deepened the kiss. Jake closed his eyes and took in her sweet scent. It must be the setting, the dam signs warning of love because the build up of waiting for this moment was about to burst. He wanted her like never before.